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The Dark Flower Gypsies are a gypsy-tribal fusion belly dance troupe which was established in 2003. We borrow freely from all dance forms to fuse together into our own unique style. We enjoy dancing with veils, swords and serpents to entertain our audience. Our sword dances are performed with live combat steel so you can hear the heavyness in the clang when two swords meet in our dance. At the present time we have four adult dancers, one young adult dancer, one young teen dancer, and two pre-teen dancers. Our group includes six best friends, and two mother daughter duos and a one mother daughter trio. Our dancers are quite diverse in training. We have taken instruction in many parts of the United States, including Tribal Fest in California & Spirit of the Tribes in Florida. Our adult and young adult dancers have all been dancing over nine years. Although our first love is the gypsy-tribal form of belly dance we perform at Renaissance Faires, we also enjoy the many other forms of dance especially including Goth-Fusion and Egyptian. We have taken as many workshops as we can with Tempest,and Ariella two of the pioneers of Gothic Bellydance. Tempest has inspired us to step closer to the edge and incorporate more of ourselves into our dance. Our troupe also includes several members who snake dance. Two of our snakes are native to this country; the Grey-Banded Kingsnake from Texas, and a Florida Kingsnake. The other of our snakes are Ball Pythons, native to Africa. Pythons have traditionally been used in snake dancing, and are still called the Royal Python in Europe. Several of our snakes have come from reptile rescue. We strongly recommend checking a rescue before getting any new pet. Our troupe also recommends anyone interested in snakes to educate themselves by reading books and on-line sources, and by joining your local reptile society. The mission of our troupe is to entertain and educate our audiences; and to promote Belly Dancing in all of its forms and fusions in a professional and respectful manner.  
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In 2003 Saphira came to our troupe with some ink already. She began talking about this friend of hers who had just opened up a tattoo shop, and who did absolutely wonderful work. She then showed up with a tattoo of some orchids which sparked and inspired the rest of us to go in and get inked. Since then all of the adults of our group have added tattoo art. This wonderful skin artist is Michelle Brown of Ace Tattoo. Leonardo came through with a wonderful full back design for Mora (the winged serpent & iris picture) which Michelle turned into a stunning tattoo. Moria decided to add a fairy to her calf. Raisa got her photo bug husband to take some pictures of some flowers for her, and Michelle again transformed them into ink pictures. Amazing as it sounds, Raisa's flower swag seems to keep growing. Nadira has now joined us in our love of ink and talked Raisa into getting a matching tattoo of chinese caligraphy of the word dance. Michelle is a Kendall College School of Art graduate who has a phenomenenal grasp of skin tone and how it affects color. We proudly wear Michelle's art. 
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As of 2006, Na'imah has had the most influence on our choreography. We came to her as a fledgling troupe; she fostered us, and directed us into the strong group of dancers we are today. Her work in helping us to establish our core choreography has now enabled us to move forward in a new direction in our dance. As a troupe we are now embracing more of a gypsy-tribal style of belly dance. Na'imah we thank you and wish you all the best in any venue you choose.
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The design you see on our banner was created especially for the Dark Flower Gypsies by Leonardo the Face Painter (aka artist Jeffery Miller). The five legs represent the original five ladies, and the three leaves on the snake represent the original three girls who started the troupe. The snake and the veils represent our love for both of these additions to our dance. |